Ventilated soffit construction



July 11, 1961 D. v. HADDIX VENTILATED SOFFIT CONSTRUCTION Filed July 17, 1958 IN VENTOR DONA\.D \I. HADDVk BY ,m W

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United States Patent Office Patented July, 1961 2,991,709 VENTILA'IED SOFFIT CONSTRUCTION Donald V. Haddix, 1201 Crescent Drive, Midland, Mich. Filed July 17,1958, Ser. N0..749 ,112 2 Claims. (Cl. 9842) This invention relates to ventilation devices for dwellings and more particularly to a ventilated sofiit construction particularly adapted for use in providing attic ventilation for dwellings having hipped roofs.

In the construction of hipped roof dwellings, the roof eaves usually are extended beyond the exterior walls of the dwelling and are finished on their under sides with soffit members. In order to provide ventilation for the attic, it has been customary heretofore to cut openings in the soflit members, either before or after installation of the latter, and place a grill or other device in the opening to permit the circulation of air through the attic while preventing the entry of insects and animals to the attic. One of the disadvantages of this practice is that it is time consuming and, consequently, expensive. Moreover, care must be taken in placing the openings in the soflit member. Otherwise, the ceiling joists and roof rafters will be visible through the openings and will present an unsightly appearance.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved ventilated soffit construction which may be prefabricated so as quickly :and easily to be installed.

Another object of the invention is to provide a ventilated soffit construction having preformed openings therein which are so spaced from one another as to assure their being located between the roof rafters and ceiling joists to obscure the latter from view.

A further object of the invention is to provide a ventilated sofiit construction which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be pointed out specifically or will become apparent from the following description when it is considered in conjunction with the appended claims and the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a sectional view through a hipped roof dwelling and showing a ventilated soifit construction formed in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2--2 of FIGURE 1 and illustrating the soflit member as it appears when viewed from above;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 2, but illustrating the appearance of the sofilt member as it appears when viewed from below;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged, sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 5 is an isometric view of a part of the ap paratus.

A ventilated sofiit construction is designated in the drawings generally by the reference character 1 and is adapted for use in a dwelling 2 constructed in a conventional manner and employing vertical studs 3 connected to one another at their upper ends by a header 4 on which the ceiling joists 5 are supported. The headers 4 also serve to support roof rafters 6 of a hipped roof construction, the rafters extending outwardly beyond the studs 3 a desired distance. In conventional constructions, the ceiling joists 5 and the roof rafters 6 are spaced from one another a distance about 16 inches and the rafters usually support sheathing members 7 to which are secured roof shingles 8 or the like. In constructing a hipped roof dwelling, it is customary to secure a facing member 9 to the projecting ends of the rafters 6 and to nail to the facing member and to the rafters a plurality of horizontal supporting elements 10 which extend to the outer wall of the dwelling. The inner ends of the elements 10 may be nailed to blocks 10a or fastened in any other desired manner. The purpose of the elements 10 is to support a sofiit construction of any desired kind. The elements described thus far do not themselves constitute any part of the invention, but cooperate with the elements of the invention in a manner presently to be explained.

A soffit costruction formed in accordance with the invention comprises a pair of panel members 11 and 12 formed of plywood or the like and secured to the supporting elements. 10'bymeans of nails some of which are shown at 13 or other suitable fastening devices. The panels 11 and 12 are pre-cut and are spaced from one another so as to provide a slot or opening 14 extending longitudinally of the roof eave. Forming -a part of the soflit construction 1 is a filler member or strip 15 rabbeted along its side edges to form a body portion 16 having side flanges 17. The lateral dimension of the body portion 16 corresponds substantially to the width of the slot 14 so as to enable the body portion 16 snugly to be received within the slot 14. The lateral dimensions of the flanges 17, however, are such that the latter overlie the adjacent edges of the panel members 11 and 12 as is most clearly shown in FIGURES 1 and 4.

Each filler member 15 may be cut to any desired length, but each of the members 15 preferably is cut to a length of 4 feet so that it may span the distance between four roof rafters 6. The body portion of each filler member 15 may be provided with a number of ventilating openings 18 therein and which are so spaced from one another that each opening will be located between two adjacent roof rafters 6. In order to prevent the entry of insects and animals through the openings 18, each of the openings may be covered with fiber glass or other suitable screening 19 which may be tacked or glued to the upper surface of the body member 16; that is, that surface of the filler member 15 which faces inwardly of the sofiit construction 1.

To assemble the elements of the soflit construction, the pre-cut panel members 11 and 12 may be nailed to the supporting elements 10 in such manner as to form the slot or opening 14 therebetween. Then, the body portion 16 of a prefabricated filler member 15 may be positioned in the opening 14 and the member 15 secured to the panel members by means of nails 20 or the like extending through the flanges 17 into the adjacent panels 11 or 12. As many members 15 as are required may be assembled in a similar manner. It is contemplated that enough members 15 may be used that the ventilated soflit construction will extend the entire length of a roof eave. It would be possible, however, to make the soffit construction of any desired length.

As a consequence of the invention, ample attic ventila-tion will be assured, the time required to provide such ventilation will be substantially less than with conventional structures, due to the pref-abrication of the soffit apparatus, and the finished construction will present a neat and attractive appearance.

The disclosed embodiment is representative of a presently preferred form of the invention, but is intended to be illustrative rather than definitive thereof. The invention is defined in the claims.

-I claim:

1. A ventilated sofiit construction for an eave that overhangs a side of a building having a plurality of regularly spaced rafters extending to the overhanging edge of said eave, said construction comprising a pair of separate, elongated members each of such length as to span a number of said rafters; means mounting one of said panel members adjacent the overhanging edge of said eave in a substantially horizontal position; means mounting the othepof -saidpanel members far-allel to said one panel member and adjacent the-sideof said building, saicLpanel members being of less width than the distance of said overhanging edge of said eave from said side of said building whereby an elongated rectangular slot isqirovided between said panel'mernbersya ventilating member having an elongated main body portion correspondingsubstantially in size and shape to thesize and shape :of :said

slot and snugly receivedin the latter; flanges tonopposite sides of the body .portion of said ventilating memberaand overlyingtheedges of saidipanel members adjacent said slot; and fastening means securing said fianges to the.=re-

spective panel members, said ventilating member having a number of regularly :spaced, elongatedopeningsextending through saidmainibodyportion, each of saidiopenings being of less length thanthe spacing between adjacent rafters, said openings being arranged between adjacent. rafters.

2. The construction set forth in claim 1 including screening secured to said main body portion and overlying each of said openings.

-References Cited inthe file of this patent UNITED .STATES PATENTS 

